Word Study
1. differ vi. 不同；有分歧：1) In many respects they differ greatly from the Chinese. 2) The brothers differ in their interests. 3) He differed with his brother about [on/over] a political question. 4) On one point, I differ with [or from] you.
2. by contrast 对比起来，与之相比：By contrast, even the most modern aircraft look clumsy and slow.
in contrast to [with] 和…形成对比，与…比较起来：1) His white hair was in sharp contrast to [with] his dark skin. 2) In contrast to his brother, he was always considerate in his treatment of others.
3. impetus 惯性，动力，推动力：1) The car ran down the hill under its own impetus. 2) Children need an impetus to study. 3) Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas. 4) The impetus that produced the age of exploration was the increased need for trade. 5) The exposure of widespread graft (贪污) among city officials gave great impetus to demands for reform.
4. gain vt. 获得，得到，赢得；加快，增加；改进：1) He gained full marks in the examination. 2) This medium gained great popularity in Britain during the last century. 3) Mike has gained a reputation as an expert football player. 4) To gain time, I pretended that I had not heard the question. 5) Step by step he gained the students’ confidence. 6) Last week I gained another five pounds. 7) The doctors say that she continues to gain (好转). 、 8) gain ground 取得进展：The Iraqi soldiers fought hard and began to gain ground. 9) gain control of 控制住，占领：They finally gained control of the city. 10) They have gained in strength. (他们已增强了力量。)
5. take issue with 与…争论：He thought his boss was wrong but was afraid to take issue with him on the matter.
at issue 讨论/争论的[问题]：The point at issue is whether you are willing to go abroad or not.
6. think nothing of 觉得不怎样，不以为然：1) He thinks nothing of your work. 2) He thinks nothing of walking 10km. a day.
think highly of 赞赏：1) The people think very highly of him. 2) Our work was well (=highly) thought of.
think much of 对…评价很高：1) He thinks too much of himself. 2) I don’t think much of him as a teacher.
7. contrary to 与…相反，违反：1) What you wish to do is contrary to the regulations. 2) Contrary to expectation, the war was long and painful.
on the contrary 相反：On the contrary, the war is bound to deepen the eventual economic collapse.
8. implicit 含蓄的，隐含的：It is implicit in your statement that I was wrong. 反义词：explicit 明确的，直截了当的：He gave explicit instructions not to be disturbed.
9. relate vt. 1) 讲述：1) He has related the whole story. 2) 把…联系起来：It is difficult to relate these results to any known cause. 3) be related to 与…有关：All things are related to all other things.
Text 3
A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world’s best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy would narrow as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea’s LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America’s industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. “American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted,” according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvard’s School of Government. “It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,” says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, think-tank in Washington, DC. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “a golden age of business management in the United States.” (420 words)
Notes: think-tank 智囊团，专家小组。
1. What is stated in the first paragraph can best be summarized as the ____________.
A. predominance of the U.S. in global economy after World War II
B. long and effortless success achieved by the U.S. economy
C. prosperous period of the U.S. economy during the Second World War
D. unparalleled advantages of the U.S. workforce over its competitors
2. According to the logical clue of the text, the second paragraph is written to show ___________.
A. the destruction of American industries by its powerful competitors
B. the loss of part of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s
C. the reduction of U.S. industrial products in its domestic market
D. the fading industrial competitiveness of U.S. economy after the 1980s
3. From the third paragraph we can reasonably deduce that, in a broad sense, ___________.
A. the crisis of confidence discouraged the rapid expansion of the American economy
B. international cooperation contributed to the revival of America’s economy in the 1990s
C. the economic progress in America in the 1990s resulted in a great measure from the intense competition from abroad
D. the reconstruction of industry and improved business management helped to rapidly develop the American economy
4. By saying “ Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride.” the author is most likely to attribute the economic progress of the U.S. in the 1990s to the ___________.
A. efficient business management B. rapid growth of productivity in industries
C. change in the structure of businesses D. turning of the business cycle or a devalued dollar
5. The best title for the text would be ___________.
A. A Long History of Economic Success in the U.S.A. B. U.S. Economic Reforms and Its Achievements
C. Change in U.S. Economic Situation over the Past 50 Years D. Predominance of U.S. Economy in the World
